Legacy Partners, a privately held national real estate firm, and AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust, announced the opening of Kaulana Mahina Apartments, a 324-residence community in the Central Maui community of Wailuku, Hawai’i.
Designed as “workforce housing,” 195 of the apartment homes were reserved for households earning more than 50 percent and up to 140 percent of the area median income. Demand far outstripped supply for the rental apartments offered to lucky applicants back in Nov. 2023 via lottery. The remaining 129 homes began leasing this winter with monthly rental rates starting at $3,413. Move-ins began in December and the last building is expected to be finished by June 14.
“We are proud to bring the first affordable workforce project of significant size to Maui in more than 34 years,” said Kerry Nicholson, senior managing director, Legacy Partners. “Maui’s housing crisis will not be solved overnight, but it’s a good feeling to be able to contribute a small piece to the solution. We hope that many will raise their hands to help remove some of the impediments which have resulted in so few housing units being built each year.”
“Kaulana Mahina Apartments will provide crucial, affordable workforce housing for essential workers, such as teachers, first responders, healthcare professionals, and service industry employees who are critical in supporting our local economy and everyday community needs,” said Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen. “This project provides much anticipated relief through a daunting housing crisis and will provide 324 new rentals for local residents.”
Following section 2.96 of the Maui County Code, the development is 60 percent affordable and is a 201H affordable housing project. The developer is BIT Wailuku LLC, comprised of BIT Investment One Hundred, LLC, managing member Legacy Partners, Pacific Coast Capital Partners, Dowling Company, Pier Investments, and Schatz Collaborative LLC. The construction and design team is Moss & Associates, Ethos Architecture, Warren S. Unemori Engineering, Inc., and Group Pacific. The property manager is Greystar. The project is collaboration with the County of Maui, the Mayor’s Office, and Maui County Council, as well as Hawai‘i Housing Finance Development Corporation.
According to Nicholson, the development sent a message that investing in community and supporting local families is vital to Hawai‘i’s well being and marks the first major investment of AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust in Hawai‘i in affordable workforce housing. The fund, a commingled fund of more than 250 union pension plans, invests in commercial real estate nationwide. In Hawaiʻi, AFL-CIO members include the Hawaiʻi Government Employee Association (HGEA), Hawaiʻi’s largest public-sector labor union, and all the Hawai‘i building and construction trades, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of workers.
